美国国家公共电台 NPR Facebook Complaints Are A New Kind Of 911 Call In The Platform's Hometown

 

KORVA COLEMAN, HOST:

Menlo Park, Calif., was a sleepy bedroom community until Facebook came to town. One unexpected thing Facebook has brought to Menlo Park is complaints from all over the world about Facebook. As Jake Warga reports, those complaints have become a distraction¹ for the town's 911 service.

CHARLIE MANNING: 911 emergency.

JAKE WARGA, BYLINE²: Menlo Park Police get a lot of calls they can't do anything about.

MANNING: A lot of people call and say that my account has been hacked³. I want you to go and find who this person is that hacks⁴ my account.

WARGA: That's Charlie Manning, senior dispatcher for Menlo Park Police, where they take calls like this one...

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: Menlo Park Police.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Yes, I'm trying to get in contact with Facebook.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Is there support there?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: No, there's no support. You're going to have to make a report online.

WARGA: The police department has a direct business line that anyone can call, no matter where they are or how late it is. And at night, anyone who calls the number gets routed to dispatch.

MANNING: They're up late at night at 11 o'clock, and they're looking at Facebook. And they realize they've been hacked. Who are they going to call? They're going to call us. So it's almost like we're famous for having Facebook in our city.

WARGA: Facebook, the actual company and its flurry of new building construction, is physically⁵ located in Menlo Park. So say you think someone is breaking the law on Facebook, and you want to call the cops on them, like the nurse.

MANNING: She was an RN calling from, like, North Carolina. She didn't like that there were advertisements that were on Facebook - a product that you have to get by prescription⁶ only. And they were giving out free samples. And it was to grow your eyelashes.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: (Unintelligible), please.

MANNING: They feel it's an emergency because it's personally affecting their lives. They want action right then and there.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: 911 Emergency.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: My business online and everything was hacked.

MANNING: It can be very devastating⁷ for that person. You know, you get teenagers that - the world is crashing in on them. And, yeah, I do feel sorry for them. I do. It calms them down as long as somebody has heard what's happening.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: I'm looking for the legal department because I need to see Mr. Z personally.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #4: OK.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #5: And I need to have somebody to call him.

WARGA: And since people around the world have Facebook accounts...

MANNING: Some of them have accents, and they're really hard to understand because they call from all over, all over the world.

WARGA: This is Karen Salas, the other dispatcher on duty.

KAREN SALAS: I think a lot of people calling have this grandiose⁸ view of California to begin with. Facebook's here, and Facebook's big. So therefore, Facebook's giant. Then we must be big and giant, too.

911 emergency.

WARGA: A 911 call comes in while we're talking. Someone has parked illegally in a disabled space.

They try to make it clear to callers there's nothing they can do about your account. They can only direct you to instructions online to report your issues directly to Facebook. Facebook has responded to how it's changing Menlo Park. The company is paid for a community police substation and is helping⁹ the city pay for more police officers.

SALAS: 911 emergency.

WARGA: Another 911 call comes in for the same parked car in a disabled space.

SALAS: OK. Bye.

WARGA: For NPR News, I'm Jake Warga in Menlo Park.

(SOUNDBITE OF BADBADNOTGOOD AND GHOSTFACE KILLAH SONG, "SOUR SOUL")

1 distraction   

n.精神涣散，精神不集中，消遣，娱乐

参考例句：

• Total concentration is required with no distractions.要全神贯注，不能有丝毫分神。
• Their national distraction is going to the disco.他们的全民消遣就是去蹦迪。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 hacked   

生气

参考例句：

• I hacked the dead branches off. 我把枯树枝砍掉了。
• I'm really hacked off. 我真是很恼火。

4 hacks   

黑客

参考例句：

• But there are hacks who take advantage of people like Teddy. 但有些无赖会占类似泰迪的人的便宜。 来自电影对白
• I want those two hacks back here, right now. 我要那两个雇工回到这儿，现在就回。 来自互联网

5 physically   

adj.物质上，体格上，身体上，按自然规律

参考例句：

• He was out of sorts physically,as well as disordered mentally.他浑身不舒服，心绪也很乱。
• Every time I think about it I feel physically sick.一想起那件事我就感到极恶心。

6 prescription   

n.处方，开药；指示，规定

参考例句：

• The physician made a prescription against sea- sickness for him.医生给他开了个治晕船的药方。
• The drug is available on prescription only.这种药只能凭处方购买。

7 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

8 grandiose   

adj.宏伟的，宏大的，堂皇的，铺张的

参考例句：

• His grandiose manner impressed those who met him for the first time.他那种夸大的举止给第一次遇见他的人留下了深刻的印象。
• As the fog vanished,a grandiose landscape unfolded before the tourists.雾气散去之后，一幅壮丽的景观展现在游客面前。

9 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。